Wednesday, August 3, 2011

"Syrian forces are pushing towards the center of the restive city of Hama as they continue an offensive in which an estimated 140 people have been killed. Residents say they saw explosions Wednesday morning and lines of tanks heading into the city. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, called on Tuesday for a rapid end to violence in Syria but said direct U.S. involvement was unlikely. The U.N. Security Council met Tuesday to discuss the crisis, but failed to reach an agreement. With foreign media and observers banned from Syria, we speak with Nadim Houry, the Beirut-based senior researcher on Syria and Lebanon for Human Rights Watch. “We need a strong Security Council resolution at this stage,” Houry says. “[But] there is no support for military action. People inside Syria do not want to see any form of military intervention. They think it will make the situation worse.” Instead, Houry calls on Syria to grant access to independent observers, journalists, and a U.N. fact-finding mission....."